After premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Horse Girl, the latest from director Jeff Baena, is now available to stream on Netflix. The helmsman co-wrote the screenplay with star Alison Brie, who drew from her own family history with mental illness while working on the script (though, it should be noted, this is not based on a true story). With that backstory in mind, it's evident this material and subject matter means a great deal to the creative team, and the hope going in was that connection would lead to something powerful and emotional audiences could get invested in. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Horse Girl features a great lead performance by Brie, but its narrative and core themes are too scattershot to make much of an impact on viewers.
Brie headlines Horse Girl as Sarah, a lonely, single woman who spends her days working at a craft store with her friend Joan (Molly Shannon) and nights binge-watching the paranormal crime series Purgatory. One night, Sarah begins having bizarre dreams and finds herself in increasingly strange scenarios in real-life. She becomes convinced that she's part of a government conspiracy (i.e. alien abductions, cloning, etc.) and tries to uncover the truth about what's happening to her. The question then becomes if there really is something strange afoot, or if it's all in Sarah's head.
A Golden Globe nominee for her work on GLOW, Brie delivers another standout turn here. She anchors Horse Girl by pulling off the tricky balance required to play someone like Sarah, channeling a disarming awkwardness early on that makes her easy to like and care about. While the film unquestionably paints the character as "odd," Brie's portrayal never feels like a one-note caricature; even as Sarah slowly descends into insanity and starts losing her grip on things, she still comes across as a well-rounded individual going through incredible pain that's difficult for outsiders to understand. Brie's personal attachment to Horse Girl definitely helps in this regard, and she does more than her share to carry the film, displaying a variety of character traits to flesh Sarah out.
But despite Brie's best efforts to keep the film on track, Horse Girl still loses its way over the course of its sub-two-hour running time. What begins as an offbeat indie comedy about a social outcast attempting to open herself up tries to pivot into an exploration of mental illness and the toll it takes on people. Unfortunately, Baena isn't able to finesse between the two. As the film progresses, it becomes clear Horse Girl has ambitions of being a serious drama critiquing the inadequacy of mental health care, but this commentary isn't explored enough at length to have its desired effect. The film's main story also meanders quite a bit and eventually gets wayward by the time it reaches its third act - which is abstract and confusing just for the sake of being so. It's not fully clear what Baena and Brie are trying to say about Sarah or her condition, making Horse Girl a rather frustrating and disappointing movie to watch.
Even with the shortcomings of the script, there are some bright spots. In particular, Shannon and Brie have nice chemistry with one another, making Joan and Sarah feel like longtime coworkers who have cultivated a touching friendship over the years. There's a sweet dynamic at play here, with Joan serving as something of a mother figure to Sarah, trying to understand what Sarah is going through to the best of her ability. Joan is an interesting juxtaposition to Sarah's roommate Nikki (Debby Ryan), who is more or less annoyed by Sarah's behavior and struggles. Still, Nikki isn't just a stereotypical "mean girl"; there are instances that depict the more positive aspects of their relationship, like when Nikki encourages her boyfriend to bring his roommate to Sarah's birthday party. However, other members of the supporting cast (which include names like Paul Reiser and John Ortiz) don't fare as well due to being stuck with underwritten roles. There's only so much they can do with minimal screen time.
Ultimately, Horse Girl is a tricky film to unpack. On one hand, it's fine that it doesn't provide easy answers for the questions it poses, but even dedicated cinephiles may find Horse Girl abstruse and challenging to a fault. With a more focused narrative and different approach (quirky comedy doesn't always gel with the more serious aspects of the story), this could have been a compelling and necessary deep dive into its core topics. As it stands, Horse Girl is a bit of a misfire for Netflix, though it's still admirable Baena and Brie looked to take this kind of leap. This clearly is not a film for everyone (and streaming is a much better home for it than a traditional theatrical release), but perhaps it will be able to find an audience looking for something a little different.
Horse Girl is now streaming on Netflix. It runs 104 minutes and is rated R for language and some sexuality, graphic nudity and drug use.
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